After some much needed rest, the Calgary Flames (8-6-3) return to the ice tonight to face off against the bipolar Nashville Predators (5-9-3) at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

The amount of days between games will surely play a role in the result as the two teams are coming into the match with opposing circumstances.

For Calgary, they’re returning to action for the first time since a 3-1 loss the the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. The group previously played seven games in 12 nights to start November and gleaned out a 3-2-2 record despite the intensity of their schedule.

On the other side of the coin is Nashville, who lost in overtime in Edmonton less than 24 hours prior to tonight’s puck drop. They also lost the previous game in overtime; a 3-2 result against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday. The losses were games one and two of a five-game, 14-day Western Conference road trip.

Calgary Flames (8-6-3, 19 pts) vs. Nashville Predators (5-9-3, 13 pts)

Last Ten: Calgary (3-5-2) vs. Nashville (3-4-3)
Time: 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
TV: Sportsnet West, FanDuel Sports Network South, ESPN.


A few storylines to follow.


Short King Showdown
Jusse Saros, five-foot-eleven, and Dustin Wolf, six-foot, will be the starting goaltenders tonight. Both netminders have proven to be exceptionally talented enough to seize a starting role in the National Hockey League despite not meeting the meta criteria of being six-foot-three or higher in stature.


New Look Special Teams
With a few days off, Head Coach Ryan Huska made a few tangible adjustments to the special teams units.

Flames power play units at practice:

PP1:
Coronato, Huberdeau, Sharangovich, Zary, Weegar

PP2:
Backlund, Kadri, Kuzmenko, Pospisil, Andersson

— Derek Wills (@Fan960Wills) November 14, 2024

This should come as no surprise. The Flames have gone 2-for-17 in November with the extra attacker for an 11.8% conversion rate and 2-for-31 going back to October 21. A change was long overdue.

There are several issues causing the lack of power play punch, but zone entries is number one. The team will often lose the zone and spend most of the remainder trying to take the offensive blue line.

Speaking of “new looks.”


Zary’s New Role
Connor Zary gets a look at center tonight between Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich.

The 24 year old Saskatoon product has looked sharp on his passing of late, but had found himself in an offensive drought with just one point in his last nine games; a goal against the Montreal Canadiens on November 5.


Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Courtesy of Derek Wills. @Fan960Wills

Huberdeau-Zary-Sharangovich
Pospisil-Kadri-Kuzmenko
Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
Lomberg-Kirkland-Rooney

Bahl-Andersson
Weegar-Miromanov
Bean-Pachal

Wolf
Vladar


Nashville Predators Projected Lineups
Last night’s lines. Saros gets the start.

Forsberg-O'Reilly-Stamkos
Marchessault-Sissons-Nyquist
Tomasino-Parssinen-Evangelista
L'Heureux-McCarron-Smith

Skjei-Josi
Lauzon-Carrier
Del Gaizo-Schenn

Saros
Wedgewood


Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MST. Catch the broadcast on Sportsnet West, FanDuel Sports Network South, or ESPN.


Stats courtesy of the National Hockey League.

It’s still wild to me that the Flames dropped:

Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, Chris Tanev, Nikita Zadorov, and Jacob Markstrom

And are somehow a better team. 8-6-3 vs. 5-8-2 on Nov. 14, 2023.

Can’t blame it on the schedule. This season has been a GAUNTLET of travel. #Flames

— TrevorNeufeld (@Trevor_Neufeld) November 14, 2024

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